Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering

Press release:

September 18, 2012

Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering

 

Grants reflect Accenture’s Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative

 

TORONTO; September 18, 2012 – Accenture has awarded 12 grants totaling C$780,000 to help support Canadians who are seeking job skills to re-enter the workforce. In addition to the grants, Accenture employees are volunteering and donating pro bono consulting skills, reflecting the company’s Skills to Succeed initiative to equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.

 

“By working with these strong organizations and programs, Accenture hopes to help Canadians from coast to coast develop their skills and find new careers,” said Michael Denham, president and country managing director, Accenture.  “We share the commitment of these organizations to making a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities around the world.”

 

The charities were selected following an official call for proposals to all Accenture employees in Canada.  A panel of Accenture’s corporate citizenship team in Canada then decided to fund programs that include:

 

• United Way (Ottawa) – assisting the Minwaashin Lodge’s Employment Readiness Program in efforts to help Aboriginal women find meaningful work and/or training to participate in the job market.
• The Salvation Army’s Harbour Light ministry (Vancouver) – training disadvantaged people in Vancouver’s downtown eastside community, using technology programs to start businesses or find jobs.
• Mixed Company (Toronto) – training at-risk young adults from diverse backgrounds and cultures in skills development, so they can gain employment and explore opportunities to develop their own creative ventures.
• Centre for Addiction & Mental Health Foundation (Toronto) – supporting Employment Works!, a program that helps people with a history of mental health issues and/or addiction to successfully return to the workforce.
• Hull Child and Family Services (Calgary) – partnering with organizations to assist young people, adults and families of people with significant developmental and behavioral challenges learn new skills to achieve success in their lives.
• Green Skills Network (Niagara) – mentoring and providing skills training to young adults, so they understand pathways to careers in the renewable energy field.
• Le Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal (Quebec) – developing a program to help disadvantaged young men in Quebec start a business or secure meaningful work.

 

Grants will also be given to Free The Children, The Canadian Centre for Diversity, Ability Online, ACCES Employment and Alberta Ecotrust.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

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As Low Rates Depress Savers, Governments Reap the Benefits

The following is an excerpt from an article in:

The New York Times
Tuesday, September 11, 2012

As Low Rates Depress Savers, Governments Reap the Benefits

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

A consumer complaint is ricocheting around the world: low interest rates are eating away at savings.
Bill Taren, a retiree near Orlando, Fla., discovered in August that his credit union would pay only 0.4 percent annual interest on his saving account, even though inflation averaged 2.8 percent over the last year. So he and his wife decided to just stuff their money in the mattress, he says, because at least there “we can see the cash when we want.”

Jeanne and André Bussière, in Annecy, France, have a stable pension and a bank account that pays 2 percent interest — “almost nothing,” they say — even though the consumer price index rose an average of 2.5 percent over the last year.

Jiang Rong, an information technology professional in Xiamen, China, decided to dive back into the speculative real estate market rather than watch his savings wither at the bank. In China, too, the cost of living is outrunning savings, as local restaurants nearly double their prices.

The fact that interest yields are so low in so many parts of the world is no coincidence. Rates are determined not only by markets, but also by government policy. And right now many governments say they have good reason to keep their own borrowing costs as low as they possibly can. Just last week, the government’s report on job growth in the United States showed continued weakness, and an international forecasting group warned that the European economic powerhouse, Germany, will fall into recession later this year.

Though bad for people trying to live off their savings, low interest rates happen to be quite good for anyone borrowing money, like governments themselves. Over time, interest rates below the inflation rate allow governments to refinance, erode or liquidate their debt, making it easier to live within their budgets without having to resort to more unpalatable spending cuts or tax increases.

Along with keeping rates low, governments are using a variety of tactics to encourage captive audiences, like pension funds and banks, to buy their debt. Consumers, in other words, are subtly subsidizing governments without even knowing it. Economists have compared this phenomenon to a hidden tax on people’s wealth.

“If you ask a central banker is that what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, they’ll say ‘No, we’re just trying to get the economy going by making it easier for the private sector to borrow,’ ” said Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse. “But I have a syllogism for you: The government makes the rules. The government needs the money. So why should it surprise if the rules encourage you to lend the government money?”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

F.T.C. Seeks Privacy Legislation

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

F.T.C. Seeks Privacy Legislation

By TANZINA VEGA and EDWARD WYATT

The government’s chief consumer protection agency said on Monday that it intended to take direct aim at the vast industry that has grown up around the buying and selling of information about American consumers.

The agency, the Federal Trade Commission, called on Congress to enact legislation regulating so-called data brokers, which compile and trade a wide range of personal and financial data about millions of consumers from online and offline sources. The legislation would give consumers access to information collected about them and allow them to correct and update such data.

The agency also sent a cautionary signal to technology and advertising companies regarding a “Do Not Track” mechanism that allows consumers to opt out of having their online behavior monitored and shared. It warned that if companies did not voluntarily provide a satisfactory Do Not Track option, it would support additional laws that mandate it.

The recommendations, part of a sweeping set of guidelines in an F.T.C. report on Monday, represent the government’s latest move to address the issue of consumer privacy.

On one side of the debate are data brokers like Experian and Acxiom, which collect and sell information, and the huge ecosystem of technology and online advertising companies — including Google, Microsoft and Facebook — that target consumers based on their personal preferences.

On the other side are consumer groups and privacy advocates that are concerned about the volume of data being collected and how little control consumers have over that information.

The government’s Do Not Track efforts are likely to collide with the desire of companies to continue the lucrative business of collecting, using and sharing information about the people who use their services. Although these businesses say they support limits on using this information, they generally still want to be able to collect it.

Real Cost of a Cyber Attack

A new surbey reveals malicious hacking of government and corporate data accounted for more than half of all data thefts last year.  A CNBC interview provides insight on the cost of security threats, with Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security secretary.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000080031

Rapid Adoption of Microsoft Dynamics Continues Across U.S. Government, Education and Health Organizations

News Press Release
Rapid Adoption of Microsoft Dynamics Continues Across U.S. Government, Education and Health Organizations

New customers turn to Microsoft Dynamics to reduce operating costs, boost efficiency and improve citizen service delivery.

inShare4

HOUSTON — March 19, 2012 — At Convergence 2012 today Microsoft Corp. announced 11 new Microsoft Dynamics customers from across the government, education and healthcare markets. These customers, including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, join more than 1,000 public-sector organizations across every state in the U.S. that have adopted Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to drive transformative cost savings and efficiencies. “Government, education and healthcare organizations are facing increasing constituent demand for services in the face of harsh budget realities,” said Amir Capriles, senior director, Dynamics U.S. Public Sector at Microsoft. “Given these common challenges, our public-sector customers are turning to Microsoft Dynamics offerings to maximize resources and make more effective use of mission-critical data.” Microsoft Dynamics capabilities serve a range of needs unique to the government, education and healthcare industries, from finance and human resources applications to information management tools designed to help streamline social services delivery, grants management, student recruitment, telemedicine and many other public-sector missions. The Microsoft Dynamics platform also allows organizations to realize these benefits using familiar, easy-to-use tools, equipped with interoperable collaboration assets that improve communications with colleagues, students, customers and constituents. The following public-sector organizations have recently implemented Microsoft Dynamics solutions for cost and efficiency benefits: Government and Healthcare • Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Focusing on the proactive career development of their sworn officers, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in California has secured Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to develop a commendations and complaints tracking solution. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is enabling sheriff personnel to effectively capture and respond to both commendations and complaints received as part of the Personnel history Index initiative within the department. • Riverside County Economic Development Agency. In an effort to reduce ongoing system maintenance costs, the agency is leveraging Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to deliver a facilities management solution. The solution will manage all county buildings and will enable county employees to submit service request tickets that will be routed to the appropriate technicians based on service areas and skillsets to help ensure that requests are handled properly and according to county standards. • Sound Transit. Created to provide safe and reliable bus and train service in the Puget Sound area, Sound Transit selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to manage its customer service, community outreach and communications activities. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online enables Sound Transit to leverage existing cloud investments and will effectively track information about customers and projects to help ensure all members of the organization are informed about customer interactions. • Bureau of Indian Affairs. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, social workers at the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be able to deliver programs more effectively than before in some of the most isolated and economically depressed areas of the United States. The impact goes far beyond business efficiency to deliver an enhanced welfare and benefits program experience. • USCIS. Microsoft Dynamics CRM was selected as the platform to modernize USCIS due to its flexibility and rapid time-to-value, which is critical to the success of the USCIS’s immigration verification program. The overall USCIS strategy leverages information, talent, process and technology to understand, better serve and manage the verification program’s constituents. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a critical component to making the program successful. • California Department of Financial Institutions. By deploying a cloud-based solution running on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the California Department of Financial Institutions can now provide greater focus on serving the constituents in California with its public records tracker. Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, many processes have been streamlined and the department has become a much more productive organization than before. Staff members are very confident that they are able to complete their work more efficiently. • Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). The IDOC leverages Microsoft Dynamics CRM as an enterprise offender management solution to provide a comprehensive, cost-effective set of tools and technologies to help improve coordination and management of information and services within the department. The solution is built on existing investments and provides a connected, scalable platform to combine data from multiple sources and create an electronic master file to provide a single, departmentwide view of inmates. • Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The county has implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM and configured the solution to meet the needs of vehicle inspection, nurse workload and communicable disease tracking, as well as the labeling of prescriptions. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM it now takes nurses only two days to learn the system versus the six months that it used to take. The result has sharply increased productivity and the county’s ability to rapidly deliver care. With the built-in audit trails in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the department can capture a record of every instance someone looks at or changes a patient case record, which helps the county easily comply with HIPAA. • New York State Office For People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). OPWDD’s new case management solution, built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and in partnership with Mid-America Consulting Group, allows people with disabilities and their families to be more proactive in their service decisions by creating an electronic record for private and public-sector agencies to share case-specific information in real time. The ability to link directly into legacy systems and leverage existing platforms is significant in integrating information from both old and new systems. In addition to the ability to support better decisions about services that people need, the solution improves business practices with enhanced audit and accounting abilities. The solution is a critical component in transforming the way the department conducts business. Education • LSU AgCenter. The LSU AgCenter, tasked with providing citizens with research-based educational information on agriculture, wanted an easier and more efficient way to report on business practices and help demonstrate compliance with government requirements. In addition, the university needed a lower-cost, less burdensome solution to assess the effectiveness of its outreach programs. To address this challenge, the LSU AgCenter deployed Microsoft Dynamics CRM and tailored the solution to the needs of its outreach programs. Now, with one system in place, the LSU AgCenter has eased government reporting, providing reports on an as-needed basis; improved business insight; and eased its development and IT support requirements. • National Heritage Academies. National Heritage Academies is making significant progress in helping children fulfill their promise and potential. At the foundation of that progress is Microsoft Dynamics CRM. National Heritage Academies is now better able to foster more meaningful, substantive conversations around ways to enhance student learning experiences. Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the organization is using data to track teacher activities and performance, resulting in analyses that help guide the future performance of teachers and programs. Its process now has a platform to change the analysis from a qualitative, subjective evaluation to relevant, actionable insights. With this information, National Heritage Academies is achieving a higher level of accountability, linking all its activities directly to student achievement. More information about Microsoft Dynamics and how it can help organizations achieve their goals can be found by visiting the dedicated solution websites for government, education and healthcareorganizations.

CGI looks south for IT expansion

Governments everywhere must automate faster to boost productivity as budget deficits are pared, and CGI Group Inc., Canada's biggest independent IT services firm, says recent U.S. acquisitions, including Stanley Inc., will pay off handsomely down the road.

CGI paid almost $1 billion in 2010 for Stanley, a big IT services firm, to expand its work with U.S. government agencies in defence, cyber-security and health care. Analysts called it "the deal we've been waiting for," but some wanted CGI to expand in the commercial sector.

"Roughly half our total revenue now comes from the U.S. and margins there are rapidly catching up with Canada's," CEO Michael Roach said after Wednesday's annual shareholders' meeting.

He said CGI has started off fiscal 2012 with $1.4 billion in new contracts, extensions and renewals, equal to 135 per cent of revenue, and an order backlog of $13.6 billion, up $578 million from a year earlier.
"The outlook is strong for the back half this year as many contracts signed last year kick in," he said, "and we're focused primarily on organic growth, debt reduction and holding the pace of share buybacks."


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/looks+south+expansion/6088279/story.html#ixzz1pVHdseaD

CGI looks south for IT expansion

Sprint ends accord with LightSquared - KansasCity.com

Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel Corp. canceled a network-sharing agreement with LightSquared Inc. on Friday, dealing billionaire Philip Falcone his biggest setback since regulators grounded the wireless venture last month.
Sprint said Friday it would return $65 million in payments it had received from LightSquared. In a separate statement, LightSquared said the return of cash gave it “more flexibility” to push toward creating a national wireless network.

For more, click the link below:


Sprint ends accord with LightSquared - KansasCity.com

UK Citizen & 2 Americans Charged for Conspiring to Defraud US Govt.

United Kingdom Citizen and Two Americans Charged in Alabama for Allegedly Conspiring to Defraud the United States Government 

U.S. Department of JusticeMarch 13, 2012

Office of Public Affairs(202) 514-2007/TDD (202) 514-1888

WASHINGTON—United Kingdom citizen Ahmed Sarchil Kazzaz and his company, Leadstay Company, were charged in an indictment unsealed today in the Northern District of Alabama for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay kickbacks in exchange for receiving subcontracts for a Department of Defense program in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama.

Kazzaz, 45, and Leadstay were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States; six counts of unlawful kickbacks; one count of wire fraud; and three counts of mail fraud. Kazzaz was arrested on February 14, 2012 in Los Angeles. In addition, two informations filed in the Northern District of Alabama were unsealed today, charging Gaines R. Newell Jr., 52, and Billy Joe Hunt, 57, with conspiracy to commit the federal offenses of kickbacks, wire fraud, and mail fraud, and with filing false tax returns.

According to the indictment, Kazzaz paid more than $947,500 in unlawful kickbacks to two employees of a prime contractor to the United States government in order to obtain lucrative subcontracts for himself and Leadstay, in connection with the Coalition Munitions Clearance Program (CMCP). CMCP is operated in Iraq by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Engineering and Support Center (HESC). HESC, located in the Northern District of Alabama, operated the CMCP to clear out, store, and dispose of weapons that were seized or abandoned in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. HESC awarded a contract to perform this work to an international engineering and construction firm headquartered in Pasadena, California.

The indictment alleges that beginning in about March 2006, Kazzaz entered into a kickback agreement with the California prime contractor’s program manager and deputy program manager, who arranged for the award of subcontracts to Kazzaz and Leadstay to provide materials, heavy equipment and operators for equipment for the CMCP. Kazzaz also allegedly obtained multiple funding increases to those subcontracts. From April 2006 through August 2008, Kazzaz and Leadstay received more than $23 million in U.S. funds for services under the CMCP.

According to the two informations unsealed today, Newell was the program manager in Iraq for the California-based prime contractor to HESC, and Hunt was the deputy program manager. Both are charged with conspiring to solicit and accept kickbacks to award subcontracts under the CMCP program and to commit mail and wire fraud by knowingly and intentionally devising a scheme to defraud the United States. In addition, both are charged with failing to report the kickback income on their federal tax returns.

“Mr. Kazzaz allegedly paid kickbacks to two employees of a California-based contractor in order to secure subcontracts for Department of Defense programs in Iraq,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “Federal contracts must be won or lost based on the merits of the bid, and we will continue to take aggressive steps to hold accountable anyone who tries to play by their own set of rules instead.”

“Government contracts fraud is an insult to all law-abiding taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Vance. “These defendants’ conduct was even worse in that they tried to illegally profit from defense contracts in Iraq, where American men and women were willing to put their lives on the line for freedom.”

“These charges clearly demonstrate that we will take firm action against those who make illegal payments while engaged in wartime contracting,” said Stuart W. Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). “SIGIR and its investigative partners will continue our vigorous pursuit of those whose illegal acts undermined the U.S. government’s management of the stabilization and reconstruction effort in Iraq.”

“Individuals and businesses that illegally enrich themselves at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer, especially as wartime profiteers, or those who diminish the combat readiness or effectiveness of the U.S. military, will be aggressively investigated by DCIS and our investigative partners,” said Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Special Agent in Charge Chris D. Hendrickson. “The combined investigative effort, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s work demonstrate the combined federal commitment to combating fraud, waste, and abuse.”

“IRS Criminal Investigation provides financial expertise with our law enforcement partners,” said Special Agent in Charge Leslie P. DeMarco of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office. “Today’s unsealing of these charges demonstrates our collective efforts in tracing illicit funds internationally to enforce the laws and ensure public trust.”

Kazzaz, Newell and Hunt are also facing criminal forfeiture proceedings.

The cases were investigated by the DCIS, IRS-CI, SIGIR, the FBI, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division. The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Catherine Votaw, on detail from SIGIR to the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes of the Northern District of Alabama.

An indictment and information contain charges, and defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

Private Businesses Fight Federal Prisons for Contracts

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Private Businesses Fight Federal Prisons for Contracts

By DIANE CARDWELL

As chief financial officer of a military clothing manufacturer, Steven W. Eisen was accustomed to winning contracts to make garments for the Defense Department.

But in December, Mr. Eisen received surprising news. His company, Tennier Industries, which is in a depressed corner of Tennessee, would not receive a new $45 million contract.

Tennier lost the deal not to a private sector competitor, but to a corporation owned by the federal government, Federal Prison Industries.

Federal Prison Industries, also known as Unicor, does not have to worry much about its overhead. It uses prisoners for labor, paying them 23 cents to $1.15 an hour. Although the company is not allowed to sell to the private sector, the law generally requires federal agencies to buy its products, even if they are not the cheapest.

Mr. Eisen, who laid off about 100 workers after losing out on the new contract, said the system took sorely needed jobs from law-abiding citizens. “Our government screams, howls and yells how the rest of the world is using prisoners or slave labor to manufacture items, and here we take the items right out of the mouths of people who need it,” he said.

Although Federal Prison Industries has been around for decades, its critics are gaining more sympathy this year as jobs, competition and the role of government have become potent political issues. Recently, a clothing company complained that the government company had expressed interest in making Air Force windbreakers like one worn by the president. Last month, amid negative news reports and pressure from the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, F.P.I. said it would stop competing for the contract because it could damage the private company that makes the jackets, Ashland Sales and Service.

In addition, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is resuscitating a bill to overhaul the way the prison manufacturing company does business, proposing to eliminate its preferential status.

Under current practice — governed by intricate laws, regulations and policies — an agency must buy prisoner-made goods if the company offers an item that is comparable in price, quality and time of delivery to that of the private sector, with certain exceptions. The company’s prices are not always the lowest, but it frequently has been able to underbid private companies, Congressional aides say.

The bill seeks to limit those advantages by putting a limit on F.P.I.’s sales to the federal government, opening more product areas to private companies and strengthening requirements that the prices for prisoner-made products be competitive. The legislation would also impose federal work-safety standards and higher wages, starting at $2.50 an hour.

News Release from Lockheed Martin - Cloud Computing

Lockheed Martin Broadening Cloud Computing Solutions to UK Government

BETHESDA, Md. March 14, 2012 - Lockheed Martin UK has been selected by the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom (U.K.) to provide G-Cloud IT services across the full complement of Government departments and organizations.

Under the framework agreement, Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions, the corporation’s business area that provides cloud computing solutions,  will offer a wide range of services including cloud strategy and integration services; cloud security services; mission centric services; green IT and energy optimization services; cloud brokering services; virtualization consulting; assessments for Oracle virtualization and virtual desktop as a service assessments.

The initial U.K. G-Cloud agreement, known as CloudStore, will run for six to nine months, with the potential to become a rolling contract.

“Lockheed Martin is thrilled to implement our cloud computing offerings to the U.K. government,” said Mahesh Kalva, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin’s Enterprise IT Solutions organization. “Our proven solutions, initially developed and implemented across diverse U.S. government customers, are a perfect fit for the needs outlined by the U.K. government.” 

Lockheed Martin’s cloud computing platform, Solutions as a Service (SolaS^TM), is a suite of offerings designed to deliver mission-focused solutions that can be scaled to shape cost-effective, fully secure platforms anytime, anywhere. SolaS^TM aligns with the vastly diverse needs of our customers and is fully operational among many government partners.   

Lockheed Martin is the leading provider of IT services to the U.S. federal government. In the U.K., the corporation was the IT prime contractor for the 2011 Census and Lockheed Martin’s inclusion in the framework agreement marks a breakthrough in securing pan-public sector work in the U.K.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

Adobe Announces LiveCycle Enterprise Suite 3

Adobe Announces LiveCycle Enterprise Suite 3

Longtime friends Lieberman, McCain divided over cybersecurity legislation - The Hill's Hillicon Valley

Longtime friends Lieberman, McCain divided over cybersecurity legislation - The Hill's Hillicon Valley

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

March 08, 2012

 

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

 

Commonwealth Raises Standards for State Budgeting and Forecasting

  

BOSTON, Mass.; March 8, 2012 –At a time when state governments face unprecedented challenges in meeting the needs of their citizens, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has implemented a new budget system and adopted standards that enhance the state’s ability to project and allocate financial resources throughout the fiscal year.

 

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ANF) to complete the Commonwealth’s annual budget process using the new “Massachusetts Budget Application.”  

 

The system enhances the state’s ability to provide a uniform, consistent and comprehensive budget process for the state’s 156 agencies by creating a common approach to project budget needs and reviewing and approving budget proposals. A detailed workforce-planning capability now enables agencies to project spending by individual positions and full-time employee staffing levels.

 

The new system also provides administration officials with a powerful tool that creates the foundation for more informed decisions about allocations to support programs and services while providing increased visibility on how agencies match financial and personnel resources to critical services and needs.

 

“Our goal was to build a foundation for better analysis and continual enhancements of the state’s performance, leveraging information to improve outcomes and fulfill missions of each state agency as well as the Commonwealth’s fiscal responsibilities to its citizens,” said Matthew Gorzkowicz, Massachusetts undersecretary for Administration and Finance.

 

Additional features and benefits of the new system include:

• Ability to do detailed workforce planning and position-based budgeting
• All funds (Operating, Federal, Trust) budgeting and reporting capabilities
• Visibility into the budget development, review and approval process
• Detailed point-in-time capabilities that reconcile budgeted costs to actual expenditures
• Increased accuracy to project cash flow to better identify spending patterns

 

“State governments face new fiscal constraints and increased pressure to control costs,” said Pallavi Verma, Accenture senior executive. “Massachusetts has demonstrated leading-edge fiscal management and a commitment to its citizens.”  

 

Accenture will continue working with the Commonwealth on other budget-related projects, including consolidating the state’s budget technology platform, implementing a planning application for capital budgets, creating budget management dashboards for state executives and the production of the governor’s budget.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s work with governments on cost reduction and budget transformation and delivering Public Service for the Future.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

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Farm Bureau Financial Services Selects Accenture Claim Components to Optimize Claims Handling

March 07, 2012

Farm Bureau Financial Services Selects Accenture Claim Components

to Optimize Claims Handling

Insurer to deploy Accenture property and casualty software to help streamline processes and better serve customers

NEW YORK; March 7, 2012 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced today that its claims management software application, Accenture Claim Components, has been selected by Farm Bureau Financial Services to serve as the insurer’s core claims processing system for its personal and commercial lines. The new system will help Farm Bureau Financial Services streamline its claims processes and improve its customer service.

“Taking care of our customers when they’ve experienced a loss is our number one priority,” said Dan Pitcher, General Manager, Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company and Western Agricultural Insurance Company. “We were looking for a system with the technology to support all facets of claims processing and increase automation so that our agents and adjusters can focus even more on our customers. After an extensive vendor analysis, including a detailed proof of concept, we were pleased to select Accenture Claim Components to help meet our claims support needs.”

“We are pleased that Farm Bureau Financial Services has selected Accenture Claim Components as the core system supporting their personal and commercial lines claims initiatives,” said Michael A. Jackowski, global managing director of Accenture Software for P&C insurance. “This is a clear indication that the technology and processes contained within Accenture Claim Components lead the industry and address the needs of insurers of all sizes.”

About Farm Bureau Financial Services

Through an exclusive, multi-state agent force, the companies affiliated with the Farm Bureau Financial Services brand (Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Western Agricultural Insurance Company and Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company) underwrite, market and distribute a broad range of insurance and financial services products to individuals and businesses.  For more information, visit www.fbfs.com.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products.  It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. Its home page is www.accenture.com/software. For P&C Insurance software, its home page is www.accenture.com/pcsoftware.

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Next Time, Greece May Need New Tactics

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Next Time, Greece May Need New Tactics

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.

LONDON The Greek government was able to legally strong-arm most of its private bondholders into accepting the debt reduction deal it completed Friday. But next time — and experts predict there will almost certainly be a next time — Greece might have much less leverage.

That’s because as a result of Friday’s deal, the bulk of Athens’s 260.2 billion euros ($341 billion) in remaining government debt will now be held by the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the individual European nations that have lent Greece money and contributed to the region’s bailout fund.

Politically, Greece would be hard-pressed to force debt losses on such a formidable international group, the way it did with the private banks and hedge funds that have just been forced to accept a 75 percent loss on their Greek bond holdings. Greece’s main creditors, in effect, are now foreign taxpayers — who are likely to be much less malleable than the private creditors if Greece needs to renegotiate its staggering debt load a year or two down the road.

“From now on, whatever happens in Greece, it will be a matter between Greece and the taxpayers of the rest of the euro area,” said Jacob F. Kirkegaard, an analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

The final private creditor deal announced Friday was agreed to by nearly 86 percent of the bondholders; the number was expected to rise to 95 percent after Athens invoked a so-called collective action clause forcing others to join in. Without such a deal, Greece had strongly implied, it might default altogether, with no one getting paid. The outcome has enabled Greece to reduce its debt load by just over 100 billion euros, or about $132 billion.

Later in the day, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association ruled that the agreement was nonetheless a technical default by Greece — a ruling that will mean payouts on some insurance contracts, known as credit-default swaps, that various investors had taken out on the privately held Greek debt. Around $70 billion in default swaps on that debt are outstanding, although analysts expect the net payout to end up at only $3.2 billion or so.

News Release from NetApp

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Customers Rely on NetApp for the Highest Level of Excellence in Secure Solutions for their Missions

NetApp Data ONTAP 8.0 Earns Internationally Recognized Common Criteria Certification to Meet Stringent Government Standards

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — March 5, 2012 — NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) this week announced that NetApp Data ONTAP® 8.0.0 operating in 7-Mode and Data ONTAP® 8.0.1 operating in 7-Mode have completed evaluation for an EAL2+ certification under the Communications Security Establishment Canada’s (CSEC) Common Criteria Evaluation and Certification Scheme (CCS). Government and commercial customers alike receive the best possible security solutions from NetApp as the company continues to commit to achieving the highest caliber in IT government security validations.

As the first storage vendor to meet Common Criteria Certification standards in 2005, NetApp set the bar for excellence in security features across the storage industry. Today’s Data ONTAP EAL2+ certification is evidence of NetApp’s continued commitment to help customers run their missions better, more cost effectively and securely.

“We are proud to be able to successfully continue to invest in securing our customers against attacks on their valuable data,” said Mark Weber, president and general manager of the U.S. Public Sector, NetApp. “It is that commitment to our customers that makes NetApp one of the best storage vendor to do business with in the U.S. Public Sector and in the world.”

In order to facilitate the prompt completion of the Common Criteria certification, NetApp partnered with Corsec Security, Inc., a consulting, documentation, and project management services firm.

“NetApp’s achievement of Common Criteria certification for Data ONTAP® 8.0.0 operating in 7-Mode and Data ONTAP® 8.0.1 operating in 7-Mode underscores their dedication to continuously providing security assurance in their technology,” said Matthew Appler, CEO, Corsec Security. “We were highly impressed with NetApp’s solution and with their commitment to the evaluation process.”

As befits an industry leader, the NetApp security story is much broader than achieving common criteria certification. NetApp offers multiple FIPS 140-2 validated data at rest encryption solutions, such as NetApp Storage Encryption using self-encrypting drives and Brocade FibreChannel Encryption Switches and blades. Upgraded NAS encryption appliances will be announced soon.

NetApp’s Secure Multi-Tenancy architecture, developed in concert with Cisco and VMware, is a unique service-oriented infrastructure that includes all server, storage, and networking hardware and software to facilitate secure sharing, reuse, and dynamic resource allocation for next-generation data centers and cloud service providers.

NetApp has also achieved ISO/IEC 27001, the global standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). This provides NetApp customers, partners, vendors, and employees with the confidence that information in the hands of NetApp is protected in accordance with the ISO standard .

NetApp demonstrated NetApp Storage Encryption in the OASIS KMIP interoperability demo at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco last week.

News Release from Cisco - Virtual Hosting 2.0

PRESS RELEASE

Telefónica Launches "Virtual Hosting 2.0" for Corporations and Public Agencies in Latin America

This service – which allows big companies and government institutions to increase their flexibility and efficiency thanks to the transition to the cloud computing – is available in all Latin American countries where Telefónica operates

This advanced solution is supported by the VCE Vblock infrastructure platform, offering a strong cloud environment in terms of security, scalability and end-to-end support

Madrid and Miami, March 8, 2012 - Telefónica, in collaboration with Cisco and VCE, has launched a regional advanced cloud hosting service in Latin America for the corporate market segment (large companies and public agencies). The service is called Virtual Hosting 2.0, the first tailored cloud computing service offered regionally supported by the VCETm Vblock platform, the strongest in the market in terms of integrated virtualization, server, storage, networking and security technologies with end-to-end support.

The service will be offered from five interconnected data centers in Latin America, with integrated management and provision. These data centers are in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and from there they can also provide service to the rest of Latin American countries where Telefónica operates.

The Virtual Hosting 2.0 service offers IT resources as a tailored service in the cloud and on-site to companies and governmental entities. It provides an easy transition to cloud computing, which allows customers to gain flexibility in their infrastructure, be more efficient in costs, and optimize their business management with the use of the most innovative technology. In addition, Virtual Hosting 2.0 offers the benefits of an advanced virtual service, such as elasticity, fast provision in case of new company needs, private access to the network, and end-to-end management.

Initially, Virtual Hosting 2.0 includes services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), virtual data centers, private cloud services and business continuity services in case of incidents and disasters. Under the cloud computing model, it seeks to provide the latest technologies, without the need for investment in equipment and maintenance. Not having to implement their own cloud computing infrastructure means that companies can enjoy fast service implementation and expansion, continuous evolution of the solution, and timely assistance to meet the demands of business, whether seasonal or immediate.

The strongest cloud platform of the market

An important difference of the new Telefónica Virtual Hosting 2.0 regional service is that it is based on the VCE Vblock platform, the industry's leading converged infrastructure solution. The Vblock platform enables cloud services that are highly secure and scalable and that offer consistent, predicable performance to meet strict client service-level requirements.

With this architecture Telefónica implements a single global architecture for the cloud that can scale and evolve the service evenly throughout the region. This is extremely useful for corporations with a presence in Latin America, because it meets their need for uniform services in the countries where they operate.

For Daniel Jiménez, director of the corporate segment, Telefónica Latin America, "this solution, in collaboration with Cisco and VCE, allows the strengthening of the pillars of the Telefónica regional and global offer in the corporate segment, based on communication, mobility, cloud services and information security solutions. With Virtual Hosting 2.0, we advance in a solid and definite way to provide a robust service of infrastructure as a service, adapted to the needs of big corporations and government institutions, with the possibility of offering them both full and hybrid solutions with the highest levels of security and providing an end-to-end service unique in the market."

"Cloud computing is the business model for the delivery of services to customers. Companies, service providers and government agencies are looking for cloud solutions to reduce costs, increase profitability and create innovative business models. Cisco enables customers to take advantage of network intelligence, the power of data centers and business applications. The result is an attractive and safe cloud experience with applications and services supplied from any place, at anytime and from any device. We want to thank Telefónica Empresas Latinoamérica for trusting Cisco as the technological partner for its cloud computing solution in Latin America," said Jaime Vallés, Cisco senior vice president for Latin America.

"With this new 2.0 Virtual Hosting service many more customers in the region will join cloud computing, ensuring their technological and competitivenes in the market. As part of th eVCE coalition, EMC is always seeking new opportunities to support Latin American companies, and this new joint effort between EMC, Cisco, Telefonica and VMware facilitates the adoption of cloud projects in companies seeking growth and certainly find in the cloud the opportunity to be more successful. We are pleased to form this new front with our strategic partners for the benefit of Latin America," said Octavio Osorio, EMC's vice president for Latin America. "With VCE technology, Telefónica will be in a privileged position at the regional level to offer cloud services with resilience, security and performance."

"The Vblock infrastructure platform integrates innovative technologies of computing, network, storage, security and virtualization, which will help Telefónica to deliver solutions and services to their customers. The VCE coalition and Telefónica are working together in the deployment of an agile, scalable and safe IT infrastructure that will allow them to provide the highest levels of services to their customers in the region and the world," said  Leon J. Taiman, vice president, VCE, responsible for the Latin America and Caribbean markets.

About Telefónica

Telefónica is one of the largest companies in the world in market capitalization and number of customers. From its consolidated position in this sector, and with telephony and fixed and mobile broad band as key supports to its growth, the company orients its strategy to secure its leadership in the digital world. Present in 25 countries and with a customer base of more than 306 million of accesses, Telefónica has a strong presence in Europe and Latin America, important industrial alliances and a leading global escalation which positions the Company in the capture of growth. Telefónica is a fully private company with more than 1.5 million direct stockholders. Its social capital is currently divided into 4.563.996.485 ordinary stocks listed in the continuous market of the Spanish stock market and in the stock markets of London, New York, Lima and Buenos Aires. (www.telefonica.com)

About VCE

VCE, or Virtual Computing Environment, formed by Cisco, EMC, and VMware with investment by Intel, accelerates the adoption and convergence of infrastructure based on cloud computing models, which will reduce IT costs while improving the time to market of our customers. VCE, through the Vblock platform, delivers the industry an integrated IT offer with end-to-end responsibility by the vendor. The VCE solutions are available through an extensive network of partners, and covers applications horizontally, vertical offers of the industry and the development of applications in different environments, allowing the customer to focus in the innovation of the business instead of the integration, validation and management of the IT infrastructures. For further information, please visit www.vce.com.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

About  Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in emerging markets is provided by Cisco Systems International B.V. and Cisco International Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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